A blog about 'Geek' related topics.

Castlegar: City of Sculptures

So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, as I’ve been on vacation. Time to catch up and write a couple more travel related blogs before getting back to the usual.

I found Sasquatch!

On our return leg we stopped in the city of Castlegar in British Columbia. Apparently it’s the ‘City of Sculptures’. It’s also in a really beautiful valley with some excellent scenery and great parks. We stayed at Pass Creek Regional Campground, which was great. It was clean, the staff were friendly and the showers were free. The kids had a blast and we slept great. There was an active bear in the area, but if you didn’t leave food around or feed it, apparently was not an issue. Needless to say we cleaned up our campsite every night. Better to not tempt fate.

We also took the opportunity to visit some friends that live in the area. They live a little off the beaten path, and rather than tempt fate on their kilometer long driveway, I parked halfway up and we walked the rest. They live in a beautiful forest, and I envy them for it. But the flatlander in me could not do that drive regularly. All told we had a great visit.

That afternoon we went into Castlegar to take in all the sculptures. Every year they have a contest to select a sculpture to add to the cities collection, visitors and citizens alike are encouraged to vote. So we had to check them out. The walk of the downtown area took about an hour(ice cream break included), and was a lot of fun. They had some really great sculptures on display and we did vote. It’s always nice seeing interactive beautification efforts, and from a smaller British Columbian city no less.

The city also has a neat little museum, containing a few artifacts of the area and detailing the history as well. We didn’t get a chance to stop and read a lot, as my little guy kept putting his hands on everything, even after being told repeatedly not too. But it was free and it was air-conditioned, so why not give it a try?

They also had an old decommissioned caboose out back, so of course we had to check that out as well. It’s not often you get to see these anymore since railroads have gotten rid of them(apparently safety is less important than the bottom line…).

We really enjoyed our stay and visit here, and it is getting its own entry on the basis of this is where I took the most pictures, but hey, there was a lot to see! The town was inviting, in pretty good repair(lots of BC is a real mix of busted up and beautiful), and friendly. My daughter wants to go back right away, and I would love to visit again.

On a final note: As someone who lives in Southern Alberta, where rainbow crosswalks are often vandalized, it was refreshing to see the one in Castlegar in excellent shape! No one had poured tar on it, or done a burnout. It speaks well of the community that this cross walk was in great shape. Kudos to you Castlegar!